Episode 2 of our Let’s Ask Sandy Series. In this episode, Sandy tackles the ongoing question of whether or not to feed birds in the wintertime. If you have questions you’d like Birds & Beasleys owner, Sandy Shull, to answer, message us. We get the best questions directly from our followers and customers.
Hi! I’m Sandy, the owner of Birds & Beasleys. People ask us all the time when is the best time to feed birds, we, of course, are going to tell you to feed them all year long. But there are different schools of thought.
There are those that say, don’t feed at all, it’s up to nature. And we say, that’s true, nature does provide a lot, but we have encroached as humans on nature, so we like to help supply some extra feed. But you don’t need to, the birds will be okay if you don’t feed them.
Then, we have the folks that say I only feed in the spring because there are young birds, baby birds, and nesting birds, so that’s a good philosophy. The other side is I only in the winter because the birds need it and it’s cold outside. That’s when I do suet and sunflower seed.
So, again, feed how you want to. Don’t let them take advantage of you. Do it so you can enjoy them, put it out where you can see it. If you only have a budget of X amount a month, use that, ration it out. The birds will not starve if you do not feed them. They are not stupid, they will move on to another feeder and when you put your feeder back out, they’ll be there.
I would say, if you don’t want to put out food, put out water. That’s the next best thing you could do, all birds need water. Put out something for the birds, put a little sanctuary, call us if you have any questions.